Thursday, July 23, 2009

Throgs Neck fire exposes vulnerability of our infrastructure

When a worker’s blowtorch started a fire on scaffolding beneath the Queens approach to the Throgs Neck Bridge early on July 10, there were immediate consequences.

Nearly 140 firefighters were called in to battle the blaze, and the authorities had to close the bridge to traffic in both directions, cutting off a major artery between the Bronx and Queens that carries 112,000 vehicles on an average day.

But nearly two weeks later, the fire’s aftermath is still being felt: one major entry point, via the Cross Island Parkway, remains closed, and trucks are still not allowed to use the bridge from Queens.

Susan Kupferman, president of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s bridges and tunnels division, said at a news conference on Tuesday that interim repairs would reopen the Throgs Neck Bridge to most truck traffic by Saturday and that the Cross Island entrance would reopen by Aug. 10.

The continuing problems underscore the fragility of New York’s interconnected transportation infrastructure — and the vulnerability of the city’s aging bridges.

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